Divine Intervention?

There aren’t many things I dread, but a big one is dealing with government bureaucracy. So it had to be divine intervention when the receptionist assigned me to a very helpful planner to process my request to modify an office.

This government employee was so helpful that I immediately suspected she had personal experience with alcoholics and addicts.

            “I’m familiar with that location,” she said, looking at her computer screen. “You house recovering addicts there, don’t you?”

I said we did, and had been there a number of years. 

As she continued with my application I wasn’t surprised when she told me her two brothers were addicts. She spoke of her frustration in trying to help them. Her help included money, food, transportation and housing. She said she finally gave up, refusing to do anything more for them because they seemed to be getting worse. And that’s when they began to change. Today they’re both clean and working at rebuilding their lives.

In the course of business I have these kinds of encounters on a fairly regular basis. The first sign is they seem more receptive or helpful than usual. And I will learn later, sometimes much later, that a friend or family member is a substance abuser. And it’s not unusual for them to ask to speak to me about something personal after we’ve completed our business. And, of course, it’s always about how to help someone who suffers from our disease.